Tension
by PistachioLuver
Summary: From the Reaping till the Games there has always been tension between Cato and Clove. They always argued and faught but still had each others back. Read how their tension grew over time in this quick paced story.


"Our District 2 tributes, Cato and Clove!"

The Hunger Games was something they both have been training vigorously for their whole lives. They gave up a normal teenage life, forgetting about making friends, being on a strict diet, working out and training 24/7. This is what they had wanted. They wanted the games, the blood, the gold, the fame, the title of being crowned Victor.

Everything was a blur. The swift train ride to the Capitol before being dragged into cold rooms where stylists plucked and polished them, dressing them in gold gladiator styled outfits. Then they were shoved out and onto the matching gold chariot, being wheeled out in front of all the colorful capitol people screaming for them. Clove and Cato stood straight, not smiling, giving them dictator like waves. The crowd still loved it. The crowd loved almost everything.

Then they were up on their District floor, being shown around, as if they couldn't have figured it out on their own. Clove rolled her eyes as she yanked off her stupid, feather structured like helmet and threw it carelessly to the floor as she went into her room, quickly falling asleep.

The morning was energetic. Clove hopped out of bed, getting a quick cold shower before dressing in her tight work-out uniform and rushing to the kitchen. She sat down next to Cato as the Avox placed the plate of peppered eggs, ham and cheese melted on toast with pineapples on the side. Her and Cato gobbled it down, needing there nutrients before walking over and getting into the glass elevator.

It smoothly descended down. Quicker than a blink of an eye they were on the training floor.

_Ding. _

They walked out, strong, confident, cocky, lining up in the circle of tributes. An African American woman, early 30's stood in the middle of the circle of tributes, a bored expression on her face as she explained the rules.

"No fighting with other tributes. There will be enough time in the Games for that,"

Clove smirked at the thought. She couldn't wait to kill.

Cato licked his lips in confidence, not really listening to the woman. He just scanned his fellow tributes, pretty disappointing. They were all scrawny and weak. District 11 had a good tribute, about an inch or two smaller than Cato but as buff. Cato mentally noted to ask him to join the Careers later. Then his blue eyes continued scanning, seeing the gorgeous blond from District 1. He smirked at her before continuing looking, somehow ending up on his own District Partner.

Clove was just so small, her face so serious and confident. Yet so elegant. She was like fire. A fire is beautiful, strong, dangerous. But it could be calm at times. Who would get hurt depended on who was playing with the fire.

They were all dismissed. Clove immediately dashed to the knives station, completely ignoring the instructor as she picked up a small, silver dagger. Her body positioned itself so its side was facing the target. Swiftly, she brought the knife across her chest and swung it out. It whizzed through the air, piercing the targets body straight in the heart.

After a while of the instructor failing at trying to interject his opinions or advice on her knife-throwing, he shook his head and walked over to help another station.

Clove smiled too herself. Good. She needed to be left alone for awhile. But that's not what she got.

Cato strutted up behind her, quickly slipping the knife out of her hand and gripping it in his.

"What the hell!" Clove growled as she whipped around.

Cato smirked, leaning down to her. "You are a spunky little girl. You know girls really shouldn't be playing with knives." He taunted her.

Her dark green eyes grew with rage. "Who do you think I am? You think I'm like District 12, 'oh I'm starving' or from District 1 'I love glitter,'" she said in a high pitched, lovey dovey accent. "I was raised and trained in District 2. That means I can play with knives all I want," She said as she snatched the knife back from him. "And I'm not a child. I'm 15."

"Well if you injure yourself or get scared with all these big kids around. Call me," Cato smirked as he walked away.

Clove rolled her eyes and went back to training.

_Boys. _

* * *

Later that night Clove dried her hair with a towel as she walked out of her attached bathroom. Cato was lounged out on Clove's bed, a cocky, relaxed smile on his face as he waited for her.

She was momentarily shocked by his presence. Then she collected herself.

"What the hell do you want?"

"That's what you wear to bed?" Cato asked disappointedly, scanning Cloves body.

She wore long plaid pants and a baggy t-shirt. She shrugged.

"It's sleeping, why do I have to dress to impress,"

"Well… maybe you could dress for me?" Cato smiled.

Clove caught on. She walked over to the bed, leaning in close to Cato with big mysterious eyes.

"Aw, do you want me to dress up for you? Want me to maybe… put something sexy on? Some high-heels," She purred

Cato only smiled as he leaned in.

Clove dropped the act. "You want me to get all girly for you?" She scoffed as she leaned away. "You're not even hot. Now get out," she pointed to the door.

* * *

The next couple days have been the same. Wake up. Breakfast. Training. Dinner. Shower. Bed. Also fit in 'Cato stares' as part of the daily routine. Randomly he would glance at Clove, watching her before getting back to whatever he was doing. Clove tried ignoring him, but that seemed to make things worse. They had only had a conversation when Cato approached her at the training center and later that night. It had left a bad impression on both of them, so now whenever they wanted to talk about the Games and the plans for who was in the Careers, they would communicate through yelling.

They had forgotten how to talk because all they had ever done is yell and argue with each other.

The tension was thick between them.

* * *

The interviews came. Clove twirled in front of her designers, watching as the long, red cloth fell straight down, the ruffles big on her chest but still looked nice. Her long dark brown hair was pulled up in an intricate yet purposeful sloppy bun, letting a strip or two fall on her back. She turned and gave them a nod of appreciation before walking out and joining the line of bored tributes that waited off the steps of the stage.

Glimmer twirled and giggled for the crowd. She was the sexy, flirty one.

Marvel danced up onto stage, talking nonsense and telling old stories. He was the silly Career.

Cato strutted on stage, talking about how long he's trained for this moment. He was cocky. He bragged. "I'm vicious; I'm ready to go,"

He was the hot Career that would kill you in a second.

And then it was Cloves turn.

She walked on stage, her heels click clacking as she walked up to Caesar, shaking his outstretched hand.

"Woah, firm handshake!" Caesar joked.

"Well I'm not a wimp," Clove responded back casually.

And after the interview she was labeled: the entertainer. Everybody expected her to give them a nice little bloody show with her knives.

She smiled at the thought.

* * *

That night flew by, full of dreams of bloodied kids and knives flying. Clove woke up with a smile on her face. Today was the day.

* * *

_5._

_4._

_3._

_2._

_**1. **_

Clove shot of her plate, dashing to the silver cornucopia in the middle of the open field. She quickly ducked under the blade another tribute swung at her before she grabbed their head and bent them over her knee, breaking their back before they fell to the ground dead. She then turned back around and continued running, falling down to her knees by a box as she tore open the lid and examined through it. Rope of all sizes and thickness, empty canteens. This box was useless. Clove growled as she pushed the box over and turned around to check another box. The moment she turned around she saw a tribute with short, light redish hair. She ducked Cato's sword, before clashing with it with a pan she had picked up. She then jumped up and smacked Cato in the face before running and colliding with Clove.

The weight not them over to the ground. Clove quickly jumped up, climbing onto the girl and punching her across the face. The girl reached out at Clove, clawing her underneath the eye as she punched Clove in the gut, making her hunch over in pain. The girl pushed Clove off and got up quickly. Clove reached out and grabbed the girls ankle, pulling her back but the girl kicked her in her face. Clove loosened her grip but the girl had got away.

Cato came up to her. "You let her get away?!" he yelled in anger.

"I let her get away? You fought her first and she escaped you. This is your fault!" Clove screamed back.

"My fault? She punched you in the gut and that was enough for you to go weak!"

"Punched me, that makes sense. She smacked you with a cooking utensil! That's pretty pathetic if you ask me," Clove spat back.

"No one did ask you!" Cato said back, storming over and towering over her.

"Hey guys?" Marvel called out to them.

"WHAT?!" Clove and Cato yelled at the same time, snapping their heads to the side to glare at Marvel.

"Is this the tribute you guys are talking about?" Marvel asked, clutching the tribute that had punched Clove and smacked Cato. Marvel held her by a fistful of her redish hair as she squealed.

"It is. But don't you see we are busy arguing!" Cato yelled.

"Jesus Marvel, grow a pair of balls and kill her!" Clove snapped before turning back to Cato.

"This is all your fault!" Cato clenched his jaw, looking away pissed.

"My fault!" Clove yelled shocked.

"I can feel the tension. It's sexy," Glimmer joked.

"Glimmer not now!" Cato yelled at her, not taking his eyes off Cloves.

"Well maybe you guys should fight to move passed this tension." She suggested as she walked over, sitting on top of a box next to Marvel.

"That… is actually a good idea," Clove nodded her head, thinking it over. "If you're not scared," She challenged Cato.

He only laughed. "Yeah right. Scared of a little girl,"

"Good idea Glimmer, now there will only be 2 Careers because they will defiantly kill each other," Marvel whispered to Glimmer.

"Shut up Marvel!" Clove yelled annoyed as she strips off her red jacket before circling Cato.

He smiles at her, slowly crouching down and beginning to circle her as well. Their eyes intense and locked on each other.

Clove made the first move.

She ran up to him, quickly jumping up and tried to claw him. Cato grabbed her wrist, pushing it away from his face as he pulled her up on his broad shoulders and flipping her over. She landed crouched down on the grass. She growled before attacking again, ramming herself into his waist and tackling him to the ground with all her strength.

Cato's back smacked the ground with a loud thump. He groaned and rolled over but Clove pushed him down. He lifted his leg and kicked her in the chest, pushing her off. She fell back to the ground, coughing. Cato got up and quickly got on top of her, grabbing her wrists forcefully and pinning them over her head. A cocky smirk was on his face as he leaned closer to her, making her fidget in discomfort.

"I hate you," She growled.

"I hate you to," He said happily, smiling as he climbed off her. He got up, outstretching his hand as a polite gesture to help her up. But she was a sore loser and pushed his hand away, getting up and forcefully storming away to set up camp.

* * *

It was around midnight. Clove sat around the low diming fire at the base of a tree, slowly sharpening her knives. She was on guard for the night watch.

She stroked the knife, wiping it off on her green cargo pants. But then there was a slight difference in the sound. She stopped moving. There was a rustling noise in the bushes a few yards away. Clove got up on her feet, walking over to Marvel and shaking him violently.

"Marvel! Wake up!" She whispered in a harsh voice. "Get up and take my shift. I'll be right back," She said before running off after the noise.

She broke through the trees, hearing the rustling sound going further away. Clove chased after it, pushing her legs as fast as they would go as she jumped over fallen logs and ducked swiftly under low tree branches. The rustling got closer and soon Clove could hear a heavy breathe. It was another tribute.

She broke out of the trees and was now in a tall wheat field, the wheat actually coming up to her head. Clove pushed through the thin, dry wheat as she continued trying to find the other tribute, sometimes seeing flashes of red. Red what? Red coat? No… red hair.

Clove was now in a small clearing in the middle of the wheat field, seeing a red haired girl everybody referred to as Foxface, run into a shabby looking wood hut. Clove ran in, immediately being punched in the side of the face. She stumbled back for a second before regaining balance and ducking before the tribute from District 11 could throw another good punch on her. She did duck and his huge first came in contact with the door. He winced. Clove turned around, running her hand with the knife across his chest before grabbing him and throwing him over. He stumbled over his feet and collapsed onto a table, breaking it into shattered pieces. Blood from his chest now leaked out and met with other bleeding scratches from other parts of him.

Clove then turned around, seeing Foxface's eyes widen in shock. Foxface ran over to her left, picking up a chair and using it to defend herself. Clove rolled her eyes and approached Foxface, grabbing the chair legs and forcefully pulled the chair and Foxface forward. Clove then swung her knife over her chest and stabbed Foxface in the heart.

Foxface gasped in pain, her breath caught in her throat as she staggered back and fell to the floor, blood slowly seeping out of her and soaking her shirt. Clove threw down the chair and walked over to Foxface, crouching down on her knees to sit beside Foxface.

She yanked out the knife. "You know, sense your nickname is Foxface I thought you would have been more sneaky, more clever. Something challenging to catch and kill. But I guess not." Clove said emotionlessly before slicing off Foxfaces head.

_Booong. _

The canon echoed through the arena.

Cato shot up from his sleeping back, immediately climbing out of his tent and marching over to where Clove should be, asking her what happened. But when he got there, Marvel was where she should be. He was passed out on the ground.

"Marvel!" Cato yelled.

Marvel jumped up from the floor, his face confused and eyes still closed.

"Where is Clove?" Cato asked.

Marvel rubbed his eyes. "She went to chase someone I think. Dude what time is it?"

"What!" Cato yelled in anger. He marched back to his tent, picking up his favorite sword before running off in the direction of the Canon.

He quickly ran through the thick woods, entering a wheat field. He skidded to a stop when he heard a door slam from the inside of the field. He decided to wait there.

Clove slammed the door, walking out of the shelter and back in the direction of the woods. She was about to push through the wheat but someone grabbed her wrists and pulled her back, swinging her around and throwing her on the ground face fist. She groaned and turned around but that's when District 11's tribute climbed on top of her, pinning her arms down with his knees.

His voice was unstable as he shook his head at her. "I didn't want to kill but I have to. I defiantly don't kill people like you do. All heartless and painful,"

"Well then where's the fun?" Clove provoked.

Thresh put his hands down and grabbed her neck, slowly tightening his grip as he talked.

"I kill painless. And that's how you'll die, though it's not what you deserve," he gritted his teeth as his grip tightened, her windpipe closing.

Clove truly thought this was the end. She closed her eyes and embraced it.

There was a slicing sound as warm blood splashed Clove's face.

Her eyes popped open and she saw Thresh's top half slide off while his body fell down on her. Clove quickly pushed the body away, her hands stained with his blood. She then sighed in relief to see it was Cato.

He held out his hand and offered to help her up. She took it.

"Are you okay?" Cato asked.

"Yea, thanks," She nodded, swallowing hard.

That was a close one. Yes, to close. And Cato had saved her.

Clove couldn't help but think it over in her mind.

'_He did save you, you really should thank him better. You know the tension started when you rejected him. Maybe he likes you? Just give him this one moment. Maybe you'll even get a parachute from the sponsors.' _

"Cato?"

He looked down at her. She leaned up on her tip toes and captured Cato's lips.

He was shocked at first. But soon he found their lips moving in sync. She was a good kisser, strong, natural. He was getting really into it, lifting his hand to place on her waist but she pulled away before he could. He quickly put his hand on his head, running it through his hair, trying to look casual.

"Okay," Clove cleared her throat awkwardly. She had enjoyed the kiss but didn't want to say. "We should go," She nodded and began walking away.

"Wait. Just tell me, was that kiss for saving your life or cause you wanted to?" He said with a cocky smirk on his face, but his blue eyes really wanting to know the answer.

She looked down at the ground, just giving in to the little part of her that liked the kiss, that liked his looks, his muscles, his attitude.

"I think it was a little bit of both," she said, not giving him the full satisfaction of an answer. She smiled before continuing to walk away back to the Career camp.

* * *

*Something i really wanted to write. It's quick paced and the ending, if you don't like the romance, oh sue me. I just thought it was kinda cute :) I think i might have made Clove a little bit more spunkier and Cato a smidge nicer. Sorry! Anyways **thanks for reading** and hopefully **reviewing** :)


End file.
